Enescu: Symphony 3

 

I will admit, George Enescu's Symphony no. 3 in C Major is much better constructed than his previous Second Symphony. The opening two contrasting musical ideas promise much to the listener, where I always enjoy a timpani 'heartbeat', although I still think the work goes on for much too long, and until the 10-minute mark of the first movement, little swathes of this and that come and go all too often. The ensemble colors are good though, even if the composer is very busy orchestrally, sometimes unnoticeably so to the listener.

Enescu places the fast movement in the middle, a fine choice I think. The main idea of the movement is rather march-like, almost akin to Richard Strauss in a Scherzo mood, providing the listener with a surer-footed rhythmic profile. The Trio less so, as it slows down considerably.

The final movement of the symphony adds a choral texture, although they only sing on 'Ah' non-lexically. Depending on how closely or distantly the chorus is recorded, this works pretty well, as it doesn't steal the show from the orchestra. The vocal element isn't consistent either, so those wary of chorus will still have plenty of instrumental-only portions. If anything, I am at this point reminded of Scriabin, a correlation I distantly heard in the First Symphony, and creates an epic musical feeling at times.

As has been the case with each of Enescu's symphonies, Gennady Rozhdestvensky takes a broad view of this music, coming in at some of the slowest timings on record. If this were recorded better by Chandos, perhaps his Enescu symphonies series would have fared better.

So it is too with the Romanian composer's belovèd Romanian Rhapsody no. 1 in A Major, where the Soviet conductor reaches nearly 13 minutes in length. I am often reminded of a Brahms Hungarian Dance, a Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody, or of Khachaturian so colorful is this symphonic miniature. Of the two orchestral rhapsodies by Enescu, the first is the more outgoing, although here, the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra do not take a frenetic pace.

 

 

 

Work Series
Vol. 3 from Enescu Symphonies on Chandos



Works
Symphony 3 in C Major, op. 21 (54.42)
Romanian Rhapsody 1, op. 11 no. 1 (12.57)

Performers
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
Gennady Rozhdestvensky, conductor

Label: Chandos
Year: 1998; 2017
Total Timing: 67.57

Find more Enescu recordings HERE!